Wednesday, November 28, 2007

I got up yesterday at 4:30 am for another early run. This time the course was much flatter which was nice. About a mile in, I tripped and rolled my ankle. I almost fell, but righted myself in time to save myself from further embarassment. My ankle felt fine after the fact so I kept running and finished the 5.5 mile route. It felt fine up until lunchtime. I left to go run some errands and while in the car I noticed that my ankle was hurting a bit when I moved my toes. By the time I got done with errands and back to work I could barely walk. I'm sure the heels I was wearing wasn't helping matters. By the afternoon it was starting to swell.

This morning the pain had lessened and the swelling had gone down. It still hurts, but only when I bend it a certain way. I can walk without a limp now. It's started swelling again, but that makes sense. Once I get home I need to prop it up and ice it to see if that helps. I emailed my coach about it and I'm going to take a spin class tonight and not do anything tomorrow. I'll reevaluate on Friday to see how it's feeling. We have an 8 mile long run on Saturday that I really don't want to miss. I took a picture of my swollen ankle last night. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Thanksgiving is over, and for the first time, I didn't overindulge on the food. And to make it better, I ran a 10k on Thanksgiving morning! I still can't believe I got up that early to go run 6(.2) miles. But I did. We had family at our house who were originally going to come and watch me, but the forecast was calling for rain, and I didn't want them to get wet and cold while waiting on me. Especially since I'm a very slow runner and they would be there for over an hour waiting on me.

It was drizzling when I woke up and the temperature was in the 40s. Every time it gets cold I debate with myself as to how much I should wear. Somehow I forget how hot I get when I start running. I wore a skirt and short-sleeved shirt, and then put a long-sleeve shirt over it. I'm glad I had it, but about 5 minutes into the run I had to take it off and tie it around my waist. My normal running partner was doing really well and ran on ahead of me. I knew that the course was uphill for the last half, so I wasn't pushing myself. Another guy from our group ran at about my pace so we stayed together for pretty much the whole time.

This was my second 10k, but my first one to run the whole way since I walked/ran the Vulcan Run. The time on my watch said 1 hour 14 minutes exactly. My time at Vulcan was 1:20:04, so I decreased my time by 6 minutes! Of course, this is because I ran the whole time.

There was stuff going on after the race, but I didn't stick around. I didn't take any pictures at the race, but here are a couple from after when I got home.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

My alarm clock went off at 4:30 this morning so that I could meet everyone for a group run at 5:30. Yes, that's AM. This run was called the "No whining" run and with good reason. The first 2.5 miles were uphill. But that meant that the last 2.5 were downhill (mostly). I ran with the same girl that I ran with at the last group run. Of course we were last again. I'm glad she was there, because it was dark for the first part of the run. The course went through an old neighborhood with absolutely beautiful houses. I'm sure I couldn't afford to live in any of them. They overlooked downtown Birmingham. The view of the city with the sun coming up was worth it to be running 5 miles that early. I don't think I would do it every day, but I'm glad I found the energy to climb out of my warm cozy bed this morning.

Friday, November 16, 2007

We had a group run last night that was a preview of the 10k I'm doing on Thanksgiving. It was pretty cold, in the 40s. I wore shorts and a long-sleeve shirt so I was pretty cold to begin with, but after about 2 miles I was feeling good. For most of the run I ran with a girl who runs the same pace as me. I think she might become my pace partner after this. We talked most of the way which was great since I didn't have my ipod to distract me. We were running on the side of a busy road and I thought it might be too risky to use my ipod. There was a sidewalk the whole way, but still. I also got one of those lights that you clip on to your shorts and it flashes so that cars can see you.

I got home around 8:00 after the run. I bought some butternut squash weeks ago that I never got around to eating so I put that in the oven. By the time it was finally done, I was worn out. I took it out of the oven, asked Eric to put it in the fridge for me when it cooled off some and went to bed. I think I passed out pretty quickly because I don't remember anything until this morning when Eric got up. I'm still tired today, I could have slept a lot more. My right calf muscle is kind of sore. I thought I might have strained something, but it's gotten better as the day goes on. There's another group run on Saturday to go 7 miles, but I'm going to be out of town so I'm doing 7 on my own on Sunday.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

I went to a spin class after work yesterday. It's part of me trying to spare my knees somewhat. I'm taking my short run day during the week and swapping it out for a spin class. It turned out that my running coach was teaching the class so that was kind of funny. I have to say that my butt is really sore this morning! And it's not the muscles either, it's my actual butt bone from the bike seat. I think I'm going to have to get some of those bike shorts with the padding inside to spare my butt some pain!

I went to a spin class after work yesterday. It's part of me trying to spare my knees somewhat. I'm taking my short run day during the week and swapping it out for a spin class. It turned out that my running coach was teaching the class so that was kind of funny. I have to say that my butt is really sore this morning! And it's not the muscles either, it's my actual butt bone from the bike seat. I think I'm going to have to get some of those bike shorts with the padding inside to spare my butt some pain!

Monday, November 12, 2007

I was very motivated this morning and got up at 5:00 and drove to the Y. I did 3 miles on the treadmill and then did a good deep stretch for about 15 minutes. I've been neglecting stretching lately, and I can tell a big difference already. I'm not as stiff and sore as I normally am after running. I need to make sure that I do a proper cool down/stretching session after every run. Who knew that when you do what the professionals recommend it actually works?

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Today was a group run. We met downtown at Five Points and ran 6 miles. Linus went with me and thoroughly enjoyed himself. He was definitely a hit. He always gets lots of attention when we go out.

About halfway through the run I almost fell and twisted my ankle. I was running on the sidewalk because the road was really uneven. I must have not been paying enough attention and tripped on something. My ankle rolled, but luckily I was able to catch it before I fell down. We had a water stop soon after that where I stopped and got some. I offered some water to Linus but he just wanted to keep running so we were off again. There were about five girls that turned off because they were only running 5 miles. Then it was me, Linus and one other guy. At that point I think we had about two miles left. We talked to each other the whole way so that was a good distraction from the last couple of hills.

I finished feeling pretty good. I mapped the route on http://www.mapmyrun.com/ and if I've done this right, it will show up in the post.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Now that the Vulcan Run is over, it's time to start concentrating on the Mercedes Half Marathon here in Birmingham. I've wanted to run this race for a few years now, but have never actually started the training for it. Our Couch to 10k running coach is coaching people who want to move on to this free of charge. Assuming my knees can keep up with the increased mileage, I'm going to do it.

My brother-in-law has run it for the past few years and everytime he does I tell myself, "Next year that will be me too". Well the time has finally come to step up and actually follow through with it. I'm out of school so I have no more excuses. I work, but plenty of people work full-time and have kids and still manage to find time to run.

The schedule for this week is more laid back since we just got done with the race.

Day 1: 3 miles

Day 2: 3 miles

Day 4: 4 miles

Day 5: Not sure, possible group run.

I'll be taking today off and then starting up again tomorrow. I also joined the local YMCA. On my days off from running I plan to go there and start doing some strength training. Also, I'll be able to use their showers and get ready for work after running in the am.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

I've thought of some more highlights from the race yesterday.The woman who was about seven months pregnant and running the 10k. I hope I'm still in good shape like that when I'm pregnant.

In the same vein, I talked a little bit with a woman who was pushing her daughter in a jogging stroller. She said it was harder,especially as her daughter got older, but she wanted to be a good influence and teach her how to live a healthy lifestyle.

A policewoman was encouraging everyone who passed by her stop. She said to me as I went by, "You're still in it, that's all that matters!" Obviously at this point it was towards the end.

Lots of random people parked on the course and clapped and cheered for everyone that went by.

All of the volunteers were great too. People at the water stations encouraged us as we went by. I think I'm going to start volunteering for races that I don't run in. They really do make a huge difference in the whole experience!

Well yesterday was the Vulcan Run 10k.I couldn't sleep that well the night before because I was paranoid about oversleeping. I woke up an hour before my alarm clock went off so I just laid in bed for a while. I finally got up and took a shower and got all my stuff together and just kind of waited until I could wake Eric up and tell him to get ready. We left at 6:30 in the morning and it was still dark outside. We got to the race site and went and to the finish line to take a group picture with the group I've been training with. We hung out there for a while and then Eric went with me to the port-a-potty line. I really had to pee and didn't want to race like that.

After that, we went to the starting line and had to wait for about 15 minutes for the start. I was pretty cold since it was in the late 40s and I was wearing a running skirt and short sleeves. Finally the gun went off and it was time to go. I think it took me about three minutes to actually cross the starting line. Since my problems with knees and blisters the plan was to run 5 minutes and walk 1 until I got to around mile 4 and then run the rest of the way since it's pretty much downhill from there. I remember getting to the 1 mile mark at 12 minutes by my watch which was including the walking. The first water break was at mile 2 I think. I slowed down to walking and took a cup. I didn't really feel like I needed water, but took some anyway just in case. The water tasted like it came out of a fire hydrant, but it was water so I wasn't complaining. I kept up with the run 5 walk 1 which really helped on the big hill around Highland Avenue. There was another water stop at the top of the hill. I got some water and one of the volunteers complimented my running skirt. When I got to 20th Street I knew it was the home stretch. Only a little over one mile to go. I walked down one big hill so that I wouldn't wreck my knees and then ran the rest of the way. At this point I was passing a lot of walkers. It reminded me of how slow I am, but also kind of made me feel good that I was actually passing people.

I rounded the corner to the finish line and saw Eric standing there cheering me on. I also heard my coach yell my name as I crossed the finish. The official results aren't up yet, but the time on my watch said 1 hour 20 minutes.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Last night I had my last run before the 10k tomorrow. It was a 6 mile group run, but I was only going to do 4 because of the blisters and knee issues. We ran downtown on the actual race course. I was the next to last person in the group and when I turned off at the 4 mile route, I would have been by myself. Luckily, a guy in the back of the pack ran with me since he didn't know the 6 mile route and we couldn't see the rest of the group. It was pretty dark in a couple of places so I'm glad he went with me. It gave me someone to talk to. We got back to the starting point and by that time it had only been 45 minutes, and at my pace I knew I probably hadn't gone 4 miles, so we kept going for another 10 minutes. I think it ended up being a little less than 5 miles.

I thought my blister was healed, but it's back. I put some body glide on it and I think that helped. I drained it last night and put some bandaids on it. I'm thinking about getting some moleskin tonight and rigging it up so that it won't be so bothersome tomorrow morning. I'm kind of hesitant to do that though, because I've never done it before and everyone knows you shouldn't do anything new on race day. Any suggestions? My right knee is still feeling a little stiff. Today is a rest day and I think I'm going to run/walk the 10k. 5 minutes of running then 1 minute of walking with the water stops as bonus walking points. The plan is to do that until I get to 20th Street, where it's about two miles to the end, and just run from there (it's downhill the last couple of miles).